Hallmark Gets Rid of ’Gay’ on Christmas Ornament

That's not how the Christmas song "Deck the Halls" goes. Well, that's the lyrics, according to Hallmark.

As Fox News reports, the greeting card company edited the iconic song's lyrics for its new Christmas ornament, taking out the word "gay" in "Don we now our gay apparel," and replacing it with "fun."

According to Fox News, a number of people have taken to Facebook to criticize Hallmark's decision to omit the word, with one post reading, "Hallmark is insinuating that gay people dress differently than anyone else. If I were gay, I would be more upset with that." Another Facebook user said that by changing the word, the company made an unnecessary political statement.

According to KCTV5, a CBS affiliate station in Kanas City, Mo., Matt Johnson, a keepsake artist, designed the ornament. On Hallmark's website it was described as an ornament that can "make your tree's outfit complete. With its catchy phrase, Don we now our FUN apparel! everyone will be in on the joke."

After the ornament made headlines last week, officials from Hallmark released a statement explaining that the Christmas song dates back to the 1880s "when 'gay' meant festive or merry."

"Today it has multiple meanings, which we thought could leave our intent open to misinterpretation," the statement reads. "The trend of wearing festively decorated Christmas sweaters to parties is all about fun, and this ornament is intended to play into that, so the planning team decided to say what we meant: "fun." That's the spirit we intended and the spirit in which we hope ornament buyers will take it."

Comments

Add your comment here:

Comments on Facebook

Related Stories

Hallmark Cards Inc., a $4 billion empire built on a demand for printed sentimentality, enters its second century facing a weak economy and what could be an even greater challenge: a generation that has grown up posting its sentiments online.